New Hobby

The girls in my family have taken up a fun new hobby. Makin' jewelry! I usually shun expensive hobbies because...well...they're expensive. Plus, when I'm presented with too many options I get overwhelmed. That's why I'm not a scrapbooker. Way too many options. But, we've had a lot of fun with this hobby and in the long run it's saving me money on jewelry. Plus, I get to design it how I want it! Here are some things I've made...This set is my absolute favorite so far! I love it. I can't wait until I make a necklace to go with it.This is my "Hope, Joy, and Love" bracelet and earrings set.My "Hope" earrings.Jewelry making is one of those hobbies where you can get overwhelmed with options, too. But I'm trying to not let it get to me. We went to the Gem Faire today to get some inspiration. They had so many beads for cheap! We got some awesome deals! While we were there, we also stopped in on the "What A Woman Wants" show. Cheryl had free tickets. The highlight of the event was that we got to have our picture taken in a funny photo booth. Here is my sister-in-law Cheryl, my niece Chauntay, and I. I LOVED these big brown glasses. Don't you think they look good on me?
Hahaha, oh we have too much fun. My favorite picture is the second one down. We looked at a lot of jewelry they had for sale there and all I could think was "I could make that!". I can't believe how much they mark up jewelry. Crazy!

Sweet & Sour Glazed Chicken

I was so excited to make this dish! It was SO easy to mix up and I added some of my own touches to it. There are a couple things I did that I will not do with it next time though. The recipe calls for an entire chicken cut up into pieces. Well, I wasn't about to go out and buy an entire chicken and cut the thing up myself. Some people suggested chicken breasts, but then I read one review from a lady that has cooked it for years and recommended you use chicken thighs because breasts are too dry. I shouldn't have taken her advice...I don't know if you've ever cooked with chicken thighs, but they aren't very meaty AND it's a pain to have to eat around the bones. This type of chicken just didn't do well with this dish. I will definitely take my chances with chicken breasts next time. Here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-And-Sour-Glazed-Chicken/Detail.aspx I added a chopped up green pepper and a small can of pineapple. Sweet and sour just isn't the same without it! We also had a delicious green salad with it. Overall, it turned out good, but next time it will be even better!

The Greek Festival - Onyx

On Saturday we went to The Greek Festival that is put on every year by The Greek Orthodox Church. We had a lot of fun! It was a very well organized event. I was very interested to see inside the church as I have never done so before.I didn't take pictures inside the church out of respect. However, I think they would've allowed it. The stainglass windows were amazing! They had a bunch of booths for you to check out items for sale. I was so happy to see all of the Greek jewelry. It reminded me of when I visited Greece two years ago. Ah, memories. I can't wait to visit Greece again.Howie and I were pretty hungry when we got to the event and the huge lamb cooking on a spit only intensified our hunger. Mmmmm, lamb. I wish I would've taken a picture of the food we ate. We had gyros, rice pilaf, green beans, and some kind of beef macaroni dish. The beef macaroni dish wasn't good...at all. It was dry. But I highly recommend the gyros! They had a booth set up where you could vote to name their Greek mascot. I voted for Kosta (Gus) and Howie voted for Vasili (Basil).Howie wearing his "I Voted" sticker! I didn't get any pictures of myself at the festival. That's what I get for being the girl behind the camera.They had a huge stage set up for entertainment and dancing. We sat for a while and just watched all of the dancers. They were so neat!There was one group that danced that I had a hard time paying attention to. I was too distracted by the pom-poms on their shoes...After the festival, we headed over to Petsmart to check out their Super Pet Adoption again. We went to this last year and ended up coming home with our cat, Jax. We've sort of thrown the idea around of getting a friend for Jax so he's not so bored and alone when we're not around. I didn't really think we'd take anything home with us, but what can I say. We're suckers for a cute kitty.Meet Onyx! This cute little guy came right to me and snuggled my face as soon as I held him. He's very affectionate. The only thing we worried about was how Jax was going to react to a new cat.Well, he wasn't happy about it. In fact, we'd never heard Jax growl until we took Onyx out of his carrier. Jax was frozen. He wouldn't make any sudden movements whatsoever. Onyx was fine. He just keeps his distance. But, Jax hasn't been around other cats in over a year, so you can understand his apprehensiveness. I would give it a few more days for Jax to come around. He just needs to get used to Onyx. We're so lucky to have found two really affectionate cats! They are great!

Where Were YOU On 9/11?

It's a question that we should all know the answer to. On this Patriot Day, I have been reflecting back to the feelings that I was overwhelmed with when the two towers were struck by airplanes...

September 11, 2001

At the time, I was working for a credit card company called Providian and I, just so happened, to have Tuesday's off. I awoke to the sounds of my sister coming down into my room and yelling "Mom says you have to turn on the news!" Groggily, I thought to myself "Whatever it is, it isn't worth giving up my chance to sleep in". I decided to see what all the commotion was about and turned on my little 10" TV. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing and, honestly, I thought I was watching a bad movie. You see, I had just gotten back from a trip to New York. My cousin, Brandy, and I took our very first real venture (by ourselves!) out into the world from August 28th, 2001 until September 4th, 2001 and we decided it would be fun to visit Manhattan. We had to plan our trip around Tuesday's because I had them off. So, we left on a Tuesday and came back on a Tuesday. Little did I know, if we had planned our trip out even a week later, we could've been caught in a catastrophic situation. Either we would've arrived on the day it happened, or we would've had to deal with the problems of leaving NY on a flight that probably would've been cancelled. Either way, it would've put a damper on our trip. I'm glad we went when we did because we had a blast! Anyway, I came upstairs to watch the news coverage with my Mom. My Mom had heard on the radio about the first plane striking the tower. She was able to see the second one hit after turning on the TV. That's when she told my sister to go and wake me up. I was glued to the TV the entire day. I didn't even change out of my pajamas. I was afraid of going anywhere because I was afraid I'd miss an update! All kinds of questions were going through my head...Who would do such a thing?...Why? I cried for a better part of the day because I couldn't stop thinking about all of the people in those buildings. How helpless they must've felt. On our visit to NY we were able to visit the twin towers and take a tour that took us to the very top of one of the towers. While there, we were able to mingle with some of the employees because they served us cheesecake and champagne (well, I didn't get champagne because I was underage at the time), but I did get a bit of Sprite in a champagne glass! Anyway, I kept thinking about the employees we met and the possibility of them losing their life that day. It absolutely overwhelmed me. I was sad, angry, scared, and confused all in one. That's a frustrating way to feel.The American flag took on a whole new meaning to me after this. People were displaying them everywhere I went. On homes, cars, in stores...everywhere. I even bought a little American flag magnet to put on my car. Our flag stood for something. Well, it always has, but I guess I had just taken it for granted all my life. I looked at it in an entirely different way. I was proud of it and proud to be a part of this country where our freedom is something that can't be taken from us.

"This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world." - George Bush

Potato Soup

Last night I made up a yummy soup. I'm not sure why I felt like soup on a warm day, but it was good nonetheless. I just get excited to try new recipes! I rounded out my meal with a nice tall, cold glass of milk and a yummy roll.Sometimes I cringe when I have to go to the store for a new recipe because I'm afraid at how much all of the ingredients will cost. And some of the ingredients will only be used this once! However, I only spent $11 on everything I needed for this soup, which is a plus. Sure beats what we would've spent eating out! Plus, I have leftovers! Howie hasn't had a chance to try this yet because he was asleep when I got home last night. So, unfortunately, I can't give you a guy's opinion or his star rating. If you want to give this soup a try, here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Allanas-Excellent-Potato-Soup/Detail.aspx . Based on other people's suggestions, I left out the salt that's in the recipe. That was a mistake. I ended up adding some salt and pepper to taste. It's necessary! When you're working with that many potatoes, it's necessary. So, maybe don't add as much salt as it calls for, but definitely add some.

Update on things: My Dad had surgery on Tuesday for his back. He's had back problems for quite some time now and it's started to affect his legs. A pinched nerve was affecting the blood flow to his legs. Anyway, the doctor's were very confident that they found what the problem was and were able to fix it. I talked to him last night and he said his leg already feels a lot better! That made me so happy because it's been hurting him for so long now. He had a surgery to try to correct it once before, but that doctor didn't know anything, apparently. I'm so glad that he got the help that he needed.

Awesome Enchilada's!

Mmmmmm. Talk about scrumptious! I told Howie I would be cooking dinner last night and that it would be another new recipe. Much to my surprise, he was open to the idea! I found a good recipe online for enchiladas so I decided to give it a try. Feast your eyes upon this...Sorry Mom and Dad, but these enchiladas are the BEST I've ever had! They were so good! They took a little while to make (about an hour and 45 minutes) but they were well worth the wait! And to top it all off Howie gave it a rating of 5 stars! He loved them. I had to make two chicken mixtures for them because Howie despises onions and I think enchiladas are one of those things that MUST have onions. I find that I'm starting to not mind onions as much. I just don't like them crunchy. With this recipe, you sautee them before adding the chicken mixture, so they just blend right in and add that yummy flavor. If you're interested in giving these a try, here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Angelas-Awesome-Enchiladas/Detail.aspx

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Last night we went to see The Scarlet Pimpernel at Hale Centre Theatre. It was FANTASTIC! I had heard it was a good play, but we REALLY enjoyed it! I would definitely see this one again. The acting was amazing. The music was amazing. Everything was, you guessed it, amazing. We bought the tickets for this show about 5 or 6 months ago so it's something I've been anticipating for some time. Well worth the wait! I've always been a huge fan of plays at Hale Theatre. There is rarely one that I don't enjoy. This one has been added to my list of absolute favorites. Very, very well done. I can't say enough about it!

Well, to give a little update on things, our cat problem has been solved, however, we now have to keep a strip of clear packaging tape on the border between our carpet and tile. Jax has no access to the strings that were attracting him to the areas to begin with so, the tape works for us. And it's better than huge strips of tin foil. Eventually we'd like to put hardwood floors in anyway, so this will be a great temporary fix.

Howie and I have plans for some fun vacations next year. (Yay!) It will be nice to get my passport out, blow the dust off of it and start using it again! I don't want to say where we're planning on going just yet because a lot could happen between now and then. We'll just have to see what happens. :)